Page 48 of Soul of the Chaos

“And your reason for this proclamation, alpha?”

“Because I said no.”

Smoke swirled in my lungs as I watched the minx lean forward, her shirt so baggy that the neck nearly slipped off one shoulder. It was giving me a mouthwatering view of the valley between her tits. I kept my fucking eyes lasered to her challenging stare, though. I’d been around enough dominant females to know when a woman was trying to get their way.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work on me, alpha,” Sasha purred, looking up at me through the lace of her lashes.

Any other time, I might have caved. Bent my mate over my desk and plunged into the depths of her wet pussy, balls deep. Just like she was begging me to do. But with the Blood Moon Goddess riding my ass, I wouldn’t dare let the beast out to play. Sasha was one hundred percent off limits.

“I’m not one of your wolves,” she husked, her voice all low and sultry.

No, she really wasn’t, ‘cause I would never let one of my pack talk to me like this. Not if I wanted to keep my role as alpha and Prez. Yet the thundering snarl of warning from my wolf which rattled up my throat didn’t seem to deter her one bit. If anything, her stare grew bolder. Dug deeper. Pushed my control way too close to the edge.

“How about this.” I stood with the smooth grace of a predator and rounded the desk to stand over her, using every ounce of my height to my advantage. If my wolf couldn't convince her to back down, maybe the man would. “You cannot come with me because the type of talk we plan on having with the filthy bastards who think selling people—let alone family—into slavery, is a-okay. That isn’t the type of talk I plan on having in front of a female. Got me?”

“Why?”

Sasha’s head cocked on the side as she studied me, holding my gaze without a sweat while my alpha rage bashed around the tiny office. My mate didn’t back down and inch, and fuck if that didn’t make me want to take her hard and fast all the more. Fucking Chaos.

“Sasha, leave my office,” I growled.

“Not happening, alpha,” she scoffed. “We aren’t just talking about metaphorical people. We’re talking about me. And my family. My good-for-nothing shithead of an uncle.”

She stood and I had the choice of stepping back or letting her press that perfectly tight body against mine. Let her feel how hard she made me, busting into my home turf like this. Admit how affected I was by this battle of wits.

I stood my ground. My cock pressed insistently into her taut body. Instead of her eyes flashing in victory, though—which would have been the case if it was just another female in the pack playing one of their little games—Sasha’s pupils blew out in answering lust. Which she also ignored.

“I am well aware of that,” I growled.

When Sasha had let that little nugget slip in the clubhouse at breakfast, I’d nearly come out of my skin.

Her own dickhead of an uncle had sold her. To settle a gambling debt. I hadn’t had an uncontrolled change since I was a fucking teenager. But with one admission—with that one tiny lick of hurt which flickered over her face before she banked the emotion—well, that was all it took to make the beast inside me rage.

Sasha’s presence was not only dangerous to me, it was dangerous to everyone in my pack if I couldn’t keep my dark wolf under control.

I turned abruptly and threw myself back into my chair, shoving the desk between us once more. My beast was rattling his cage, ready to sink our teeth deep into the white column of her throat until the entire world knew she was mine.

“It's my right to confront him.” Sasha stood there, her thighs slammed up against my desk. Her face scrunched up in irritation as her hands wrapped around the hardwood of the desktop with white knuckles. “You can’t deny me this, Grimm. Not after what I—”

She cut herself off when the words wobbled.

Fuck. How was her sorrow even more tantalizing than her anger? A better man would’ve consoled her, offered their intended mate comfort. I was not that man. Right now, with the Blood Moon Goddess breathing down my neck, I was more beast than human.

“Not today.”

I stabbed my cigarette out in the ashtray on my desk. The same ashtray which was already overflowing with butts because I was sporting a raven-haired tension headache and a cock so hard it wept in my jeans. Not to mention a clubhouse full of people who were terrified and more than a little broken. All of which had me sucking down smokes like a fucking chimney.

Mongrel knocked on the door and barged right in before I even bothered to answer. Typical. Asshole had caught me in all kinds of compromising situations over the years in this office—I rarely brought a piece of ass to my den, so this little room had seen plenty of action—and never fucking blinked. All he’d do was throw his ass down on my couch and kick his muddy as hell boots up on my coffee table, dirt crumbling from the treads like tears.

Today was no different. At least this time he hadn’t brought a book to wait me out. Instead, he put his hands behind his head and watched us.

Getting dinner and a show. Fucker.

“The fuck you say?” Sasha hissed, rounding the desk and completely ignoring my Sgt. at Arms’ intrusion.

Oh, the little alpha had heard him all right. Mongrel hadn’t been quiet. Sasha just didn’t give a fuck about my authority. She was halfway round, outrage marring that beautiful face, but the beastial snarl which tore from my throat made her pause.

My stomach churned at the sudden lash of fear which rolled off my mate before she could tamp it down. She didn’t back down but she was afraid.

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